James Donald, Actor, dies at 76; Often Portrayed Military Officers

By ERIC PACE

Published: August 16, 1993

Correction Appended

James Donald, a British stage, screen and television actor known for his film portrayals of military officers, died on Aug. 3 at his home in Wiltshire in southwestern England, the British press reported last week. He was 76.

He had been in failing health and had long suffered from asthma, The Daily Telegraph said.

Mr. Donald served in British Army intelligence for part of World War II and went on to play a British Army doctor, Major Clifton, in the 1957 movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai." The film is about prisoners of war in Burma while it was occupied by Japan.

He won critical praise in the United States for his portrayal of the doctor, who talks reasonably to the prisoners' obsessive, militaristic leader -- played by Alec Guinness -- who insists on building a bridge conscientiously for their Japanese captors.

"Must we work so well?" Mr. Donald asks him. "Must we build a better bridge than they could do themselves?" Prisoners of War

The Times of London, reviewing Mr. Donald's career last week, observed that "the part was considered one of his finest film performances." He appeared in more than two dozen other films, including "The Great Escape" (1963) and "King Rat" (1965), both about prisoners of war, and "Conduct Unbecoming" (1975), about military life.

He was lauded by critics in the United States for his quiet but moving depiction of Vincent van Gogh's brother, Theo, in the 1956 film "Lust for Life."

Mr. Donald's stage appearances in the United States included playing a blue-blooded writer in the Broadway mystery drama "Write Me a Murder," which opened at the Belasco Theater in 1961.

He also appeared repeatedly on American television in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1958, he donned a uniform to play the captain in a live CBS production of "Billy Budd," Herman Melville's tale of conflict and tragedy at sea.

Mr. Donald was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and studied at McGill and Edinburgh universities and the London Theater Studio. His comedic acting in 1943 in Noel Coward's play "Present Laughter" made him well known in Britain.

Mr. Donald retired from acting because of his poor health. In later years, he grew grapes and made wine in Wiltshire.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, and a stepson.

Photo: James Donald in a TV version of "The Power and the Glory." (1959)

Correction: August 17, 1993, Tuesday A picture yesterday with an obituary of James Donald, an actor, was published in error. It showed Alfred Ryder, who appeared with Mr. Donald in a 1959 television version of "The Power and the Glory." A picture of Mr. Donald appears today on page B6.